


Book 1: The Lost Nation

by bytheriver (forsakenfemicide)



Series: Warriors: Dreams of Blood [1]
Category: Warriors - Erin Hunter
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, Multi, OCs - Freeform, Post-Canon, RiverClan (Warriors), ShadowClan (Warriors), So many OCs, ThunderClan (Warriors), Warrior Cat Ocs, WindClan (Warriors), it's hard to keep track of so many cats
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-09
Updated: 2018-04-14
Packaged: 2018-10-16 14:55:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10573602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/forsakenfemicide/pseuds/bytheriver
Summary: “In a place where reality and imagination coincide, claws and scales will collide. On wings of starlight and constellations, a wave of black salvation comes on a roaring tide.”The cats in the lake territories have lived together in peace for as long as they can remember. Prey is good, tensions are low, and no clan is suffering major disasters in their lands. Their ranks are rising fast and the prey population is rising around them. Deep in Shadowclan, it is finally time for Crowkit, Ravenkit, and Starlingkit to become apprentices.However, Shadowclan has become prey to a sudden new disease. Cats are falling ill suddenly and growing sick with disastrous symptoms and little immunity. It is up to the three siblings and the other clans to figure out a cure and save the clans. Just below, conflict is rising between clans, and dark secrets surround the illustrious leaders of each clan. The clans will need help to survive this churning tide.





	1. Allegiances

**Allegiances**

**SHADOWCLAN:**  
**Leader** : Tatteredstar: battle-scarred orange tabby tom with a mangled foreleg  
**Deputy** : Nightshade: black tom with haunting yellow eyes  
**Apprentice** : Oakpaw  
**Medicine Cat** : Songbird: slender calico she-cat  
**Warriors** : Ratface: scraggly dark brown tom  
Redstreak: red-and-white tabby tom  
**Apprentice** : Mousepaw  
Snowpatch: lithe white she-cat  
Hailspot: silver tabby she-cat with blue eyes  
Whisperpool: cream tom with calm hazel eyes  
**Apprentice** : Baypaw  
Doveheart: short-furred dark gray she-cat  
Badgerstripe: thin black and white she-cat  
Smoketail: gray she-cat with a long tail  
**Apprentice** : Hazelpaw  
**Apprentices** : Mousepaw: tall brown tom  
Oakpaw: dark brown tom  
Baypaw: long-furred white she-cat  
Hazelpaw: cream-and-white she-cat  
**Queens** : Spottedstride: dark-pelted calico (mother of Dapplekit and Shadekit)  
Mudflower: spotted light-brown she-cat (mother of Crowkit, Ravenkit, and Starlingkit)

Firelily: red tabby she-cat  
**Kits** : Dapplekit: white she-cat with calico spots  
Shadekit: black-and-white tabby tom  
Crowkit: black she-cat with drooping ears  
Ravenkit: black she-cat with bright green eyes  
Starlingkit: boisterous black she-cat  
**Elders** : Frostear: grizzled white bengal  
Rootfoot: young ginger tom with a twisted foot  
Losteyes: blind white tom

 **THUNDERCLAN** :  
**Leader** : Barkstar: light brown bengal tabby tom  
**Deputy** : Robincall: fiery red-and-brown she-cat  
**Medicine Cat** : Nightwatcher: large brown-and-white tabby tom  
**Apprentice** : Cherrypaw: white she-cat with red tabby patches  
**Warriors** : Addertooth: brown tom  
Deertoe: long-haired brown she-cat  
**Apprentice** : Blackpaw  
Blossombloom: blind calico tom  
Emberblaze: ginger tabby she-cat with a twisted leg  
Dawnmeadow: calico she-cat  
Luckyduck: small calico she-cat  
Baron: seal point tom  
**Apprentices** : Blackpaw: black tom with spiky fur  
**Queens** : Fawnsky: fawn tabby she-cat (mother of Laurelkit, Mallowkit, Bellkit, Beekit, and Lilackit)  
**Kits** : Mountainkit: seal point tom  
Mallowkit: fawn and white tom  
Bellkit: long-furred seal point tom  
Beekit: brown-and-white tom  
Lilackit: fawn-and-white she-cat  
**Elders** : Furzewhisker: white tom with long, crooked whiskers

 **WINDCLAN** :  
**Leader** : Ghoststar: grizzled black-and-white she-cat  
**Deputy** : Condortalon: sleek seal point tabby tom  
**Medicine Cat** : Beechnut: curly brown tabby tom  
**Apprentice** : Darkpaw: Black she-cat with owlish green eyes  
**Warriors** : Littlehop: small brown tabby tom  
Birdcry: black tabby tom  
**Apprentice** : Aspenpaw  
Falselight: large, short-haired tabby tom  
Eaglespirit: large white-and-blue tabby tom  
Sparrowsong: large white-and-brown tabby tom  
**Apprentice** : Cypresspaw  
**Apprentices** : Aspenpaw: dark-brown she-cat  
Cypresspaw: very thin red she-cat  
**Queens** : Opalheart: fawn-and-white tabby she-cat with folded ears (mother of Buzzardkit, Sheepkit, Dustkit, Applekit, Dawnkit, and Dovekit)  
**Kits** : Buzzardkit: light brown tom  
Sheepkit: white tom with blue eyes  
Dustkit: light brown tabby tom  
Applekit: mottled ginger-and-white she-cat  
Dawnkit: mottled red-and-white tabby she-cat  
Dovekit: gray she-cat with folded ears  
**Elders** : Larkcloud: brown tabby she-cat  
Sloepelt: black-and-white tom

 **Riverclan** :  
**Leader** : Emberstar: youthful russet tabby she-cat  
**Deputy** : Snowheart: plump white tom  
Medicine Cat: Thymeleaf: long-furred brown tom  
Rosestem: mangled cream tabby  
**Warriors** : Copperpool: red point she-cat  
**Apprentice** : Wetpaw  
Blackberry: large, aging black she-cat  
Silverrain: large, long-furred gray tabby tom  
Daisyspots: spotted gray she-cat  
**Apprentice** : Rockpaw  
Troutstripe: brown tabby tom  
Lamperntail: silver tabby tom  
**Apprentices** : Wetpaw: lean silver tabby tom  
Rockpaw: black she-cat  
**Queens** : Blueminnow: long-furred blue tabby she-cat (mother of Mudkit and Redkit)  
Reedtuft: heavily pregnant spotted brown tabby  
**Kits** : Mudkit: brown tabby she-cat  
Redkit: red tabby tom  
**Elders** : Lilyflower: gray-and-white she-cat  
Graystream: silver tabby tom  
Whitescar: scarred tortoiseshell she-cat  
Fishbone: mangled white tom

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I used a lot of these cats from a few people on a site called feralfront!
> 
> Ratface, Redstreak, Snowpatch, Hailspot, Whisperpool, Doveheart, Mousepaw, Oakpaw, Baypaw, Hazelpaw, Spottedstride, Dapplekit, Shadekit, Frostear, Rootfoot - belong to Abe.  
> Littlehop, Smoketail, Wetpaw, Addertooth, Losteyes, Mintpaw, Deertoe, Rockpaw, Birdcry, Blossombloom - Belong to Tallow_Cat  
> Emberblaze, Falselight, Duskpaw, Badgerstripe, Fawnsky, Dawnmeadow, Dusksparks, Tidalsun, Eaglespirit, Sparrowsong, Luckyduck - Belong to xRedxPepperx


	2. Prologue

Fireflies danced through the towering pine trees, twinkling cheerily and diving through holly and sage brush. Stars peeked through the canopy of branches far above.

Glittering strands of moonlight filtered down and washed the empty clearing in pale moonlight.

Three cats sat silently in the delicate halflight. They watched as a fourth cat approached, stalking wordlessly over the lichen and moss covered boulders crowding the corner of the grove. His brown tabby fur glimmered with starlight and mist followed his massive, white paws.

The newcomer pause halfway through the clearing, casting a warm amber gaze over the assembled group. “Good evening, everyone,” he greeted amiably, flicking an ear an lumbering forward. “I see we are all here. What is it you wanted to tell us Batshade?”

Batshade rose from where he had been sitting, rolling his broad shoulders and puffing up his deep black pelt, which glittered with constellations. “There is trouble stirring in the clans,” he mewed, a rough scratch to his voice.

“I had a dream,” a small brown she-cat interrupted. “A dream of gnashing teeth, fire, and blood.”

“I had the same one too, Petaldance,” the massive brown tabby responded, flicking his long, tufted ear. “What do you think it means?”

“I saw them in my dream too, Wolfstar,” murmurs a large white she-cat. Her eyes bulge grotesquely from her head and shine with unseen constellations and supernova. “I know what they are. Massive beasts with rows of sharp white teeth and beady black eyes. They can tear a cat in half with one bite.”

Petaldance suppresses a muffled gasp and Batshade takes on a melancholy expression.

“We have to warn them Nakija,” Wolfstar implores gravely.

“They won’t survive, even with a warning,” Nakija rumbles, quivering her long, crooked whiskers.

Petaldance stands up, mist swirling around her paws. “That can’t be true!” she cries.

Batshade waves his tail at her, gesturing for her to sit down again.

“No,” Petaldance flashes at him, eyes burning. “We can help them! We can give them something, a sign, a gift, a power, something!”

“Sit down Petaldance, it will be okay,” Wolfstar reassures her kindly, offering a smile. “We can figure something out.”

“I’m not going to sit down,” she shoots back furiously, lashing her tail and tending her muscles. “Nakija said the clans are going to die and you all are content to sit up here and sit in the sun while my friends and family are suffering! It’s not fate, it’s cruelty.”

“Petaldance, please,” Batshade began, leaning forwards in hopes to calm her anger, but Petaldance didn’t spare him a glance. The brown she-cat turned on her heel and dashed through the dark brambles and kind white flowers, streaming tail disappearing among the foliage.

Batshade and Wolfstar cast their starry gazes to Nakija. She sighed in defeat and curled her long tail tighter against her paws. “I knew she would be like this and still invited her,” the massive she-cat breathed heavily.

“She has a point,” Batshade points out. “The least we could do is warn them, Nakija.”

Wolfstar nods vigorously, slowly standing to his paws.

“I will give them a prophecy then,” Nakija finally relents. “In a place where reality and imagination coincide, claws and scales will collide. On wings of starlight and constellations, a wave of black salvation comes on a roaring tide.”

Wolfstar and Batshade nod upon hearing the prophecy.

“Starclan give them strength.”


	3. Chapter 1

Snow brushed against Ravenkit’s pelt in it’s path from the sky. It crunched beneath her paws, creating a snowdrift so deep that Ravenkit felt her chest being submerged in the fluffy white. She struggled through it, pausing upon spotting the plump body of a field mouse a few tail-lengths away from her.

Ravenkit bunched up her muscles and soared through the air. She felt a sharp pain in her side slice through her dream and throw her from the hunt. She pricked her ears and opened her eyes, noticing the familiar brambles that made up the nursery interior. Starlingkit scrabbled with a moss-ball close beside her, and Crowkit still laid twitching in her nest. Dapplekit and Shadekit had already vacated the den in search of interesting activities. Ravenkit peered through the gnarled entrance of the nursery. The sky was bright and blue and the ground was devoid of snow. She could see the tip of Mudflower’s tail next to the fresh-kill pile.

”Ravenkit,” Starlingkit whined, prodding her flank incessantly. “Play-fight with me! This den is so boring.”

“Ugh,” Ravenkit groaned, still blinking the sleep from her eyes. “Make Shadekit or Dapplekit play with you. I’m sleepy.”

”But Shadekit and Dapplekit are too big! They win everytime!”

Slowly, Ravenkit lifted herself from her nest. She shook bits of moss and feather from her fur and arched her back in a deep stretch. “Well maybe we can find something more interesting to do in the camp today.”

Crowkit lifted her large, quivering nose out from her under her long tail. She looked up at her sisters with wide yellow eyes. “Maybe we can play hide and seek,” she suggests softly.

”Well, let’s go then!” Starlingkit cries, racing out into the sunlight of camp. Ravenkit looks back at Crowkit and slowly helps her from her nest before trotting to the exit of the nursery.

”Try not to bother the warriors,” Spottedstride calls from behind them, exiting an engaging conversation with Firelily. “They’re still trying to repair the camp after that pine fell a few sunrises ago.”

Ravenkit nods in affirmation before following her sister into the camp. She emerges into the sun-filled hollow and a humid breeze brushes past her. Redstreak and Ratface sit beside the fresh-kill pile, laughing and sharing tongues with eachother. Ravenkit notices her fathers, Nightshade and Tatteredstar, are engaged in hushed conversation at the base of the hazel tree. Just to the side of the nursery, Hailspot, Whisperpool, and Baypaw are weaving branches of the pine into the walls of the nursery and ferrying blocks of wood from the camp. Ravenkit trots over to Starlingkit with Crowkit on her heels.

“Okay, Crowkit and I will hide and you’ll count,” Starlingkit declares, pointing her tail at Ravenkit’s chest.

”But I’m always counting!” Ravenkit protests, but Starlingkit was already bounding away from her and disappearing into the shade of the hazel tree. Ravenkit cast her wide yellow eyes to Crowkit, who gave her a half-hearted shrug and began to walk in the opposite direction.

Ravenkit sighed heavily. She slowly stepped her way through scattered pine needles and patchy tussocks of grass and hid her gaze in the shade of the bramble barriers. She counted silently up from one, and upon reaching ten, she whipped herself around on her heel. 

Ravenkit cast her eyes across the camp, slowly picking away places where her sisters could be hiding. She raked her eyes across the nursery, the pine tree, the elder’s den, and finally where Tatteredstar and Nightshade sat. She narrowed her eyes. There was a lump underneath Tatteredstar’s long, willowy tail. After a few seconds, Ravenkit could also make out a small quivering nose.

Ravenkit bounded across the clearing, shivering as she passed under the shade of the billowing hazel tree. 

“Hi dad, hi papa,” she greeted her parents fleetingly. Tatteredstar smiled down at her and Nightshade glowed. Ravenkit began to nose beneath Tatteredstar’s tail.

”Hello Ravenkit,” Nightshade purred warmly, his owlish amber eyes glowing. “What are you up to?”

”I’m trying to find Crowkit,” Ravenkit answered distractedly, although she dutifully noted Nightshade’s knowing tone.

”Oof,” Crowkit moans from beneath Tatteredstar’s heavy tail as she and Ravenkit bump heads.

”Found you!” Ravenkit cries triumphantly. She can hear Tatteredstar and Nightshade laugh from beside her. Crowkit slowly crawls out from beneath their father, her long, tufted ears dripping and dragging across the sandy floor.

Ravenkit immediately turns her gaze to Tatteredstar. “Did you see Starlingkit go anywhere?” 

”Mmm,” he hummed, pulling Ravenkit closer to him with a paw. “I don’t think I’ve seen her. Maybe you should just stay here with us.”

Tatteredstar leaned down and rasped at her head, smoothing down a piece of fur. Ravenkit struggled against his rough tongue, glancing to Crowkit for help. 

“We have to find her,” Crowkit objected quietly. “Or else she’ll just stay hidden forever.”

Ravenkit slipped through her father’s paws finally, bounding a few tail-lengths away from him. “You best find her quickly then,” Nightshade purred from behind her, using his long, thin tail to push Crowkit after her.

“Where should we search next?” Crowkit mews from behind her. Ravenkit kneads her paws into the soft, loamy sand, discerning the best hiding spots at the border of camp with her wide eyes.

“Maybe we should just walk around the camp walls and try to find her there,” Ravenkit suggests, tossing her gaze over her shoulder. Crowkit nods in timid agreement.

Taking in a gulp of crisp new-leaf air, Ravenkit crossed from the center of camp to the very edges. The sunlight, while faint, felt heated on her black pelt. The kitten heaved a sigh of relief upon passing into the shade of the thick bramble walls. Badgerstripe had settled closeby. She ran her tongue across her white paw and swiped it over her ear before fixing the two kittens in her gaze.

”You two better not be causing trouble,” she rumbled, narrowing her eyes and motioning her tail out towards the sides of the camp. “Shadekit and Dapplekit are a pawful enough.“

Ravenkit and Crowkit follow her gaze. Dapplekit and Shadekit are scrambling away from Oakpaw, who is hot on their trail and snapping at their heels like a rabid badger. Ravenkit giggles at sight, quivering her whiskers in amusement. Crowkit huddles closer to her sister, leaning into her sleek black fur.

”Don’t worry, we’ll behave,” Ravenkit reassures Badgerstripe before plodding past her. Crowkit trails after Ravenkit dejectedly, a shiver going through her paws.

Ravenkit plods on and on, avoiding jutting bramble branches and brushing past thorn and sage brush. Her eyes run along the edge of camp, searching for a place where Starlingkit might have shoved herself into. She raises her tail high and narrows her eyes in deep concentration. Suddenly, she feels her paw catch on a root that had snakes through the ground and her heart flies into her throat. Ravenkit wobbles left and right before tumbling into the bramble barrier to her right with a muffled cry of shock.

”Ow!” Starlingkit cries from within the brambles, having nestled within a hole there. “Get off of me!”

”Found you!” Crowkit squeaks from beside her, joyfully bouncing from paw to paw. She helps Ravenkit to her paws with a smile, using her long tail to steady her flank. 

Ravenkit laughs gleefully, shaking remnants of the bramble wall from her pelt, “You can get out now Starlingkit,” she chirrups, fixing her sister with her glittering forest eyes.

Starlingkit struggles from within the bramble wall, whimpering in pain from when the sharp fronds poke at her chubby sides. “I don’t think I can,” she says, continuing to wiggle feebly.

”If you got in there, can’t you get out?” Crowkit reasons, leaning towards the thistles and looking closer.

”Maybe she got fatter while she was hiding there,” Ravenkit teases relentlessly, narrowly avoiding a swipe of Starlingkit’s paws. “Hold on, we can get you out.”

”How?” Crowkit wonders, looking about the camp. The gentle new-leaf breeze makes her droopy ears blow in the wind a bit.

Ravenkit lets her gaze rake across the floor of the clearing, picking among the pine needles and cones until she spots a long, crooked stick lying half-lodged into the camp barrier. She scampers over to it and wraps her jaws tight around its hilt, feeling the wood splinter under her grip. With a heave of her body, she manages to drag it through the dark-coloured soil, creating a line in the dirt. She drops it and turns to Crowkit, breathing heavily. 

“We can give one end to Starlingkit and pull on the other,” Ravenkit suggests, and both of them nod in agreement. Energised by the prospect, Ravenkit drags the large pine branch into position. Starlingkit cranes her head and clamps her maw around one end, her eyes narrowed in concentration. Ravenkit takes up the other side, and she can feel Crowkit gently grip her tail behind her.

Ravenkit taps her paw three times in preparation before shifting her weight back. Her teeth dig deep into the slightly damp wood, smelling slightly of rainfall and pine sap. Her paws scrabble against the sand until she feels the bramble wall give way and release Starlingkit from it’s hold. Ravenkit tumbles back on Crowkit and the pine branch goes flying from her maw, embedding in the sand a few tail-lengths away.

”Oof!” Starlingkit gasps, stumbling against the ground. Her fur, long and unruly, is now full of burrs, weeds, brambles, and thorns, all combined to create one massive knot. Ratface, who had been subbing himself nearby, leaps to his paws and rushes towards them.

”We just repaired that wall this dawn!” he cries angrily, his hackles raised and his tail-tip flicking this way and that in annoyance. 

“Sorry Ratface!” Starlingkit squeals, tapping Ravenkit and Crowkit’s flanks with her tail-tip and quickly bounding away from his wrath. Ravenkit and Crowkit followed soon after, leaving a flurry of thistle remains in their wake.

Starlingkit skidded to a stop in front of the Medicine Cat den, suddenly cradling her left paw and holding it above the sand and pine needles. “I think I have a thorn in my paw,” she whimpered softly, a pout on her face.

”Of course you do!” Ravenkit snaps sarcastically, settling down and beginning to weed burrs out from her own pelt. “Who decides to hide in a bramble bush, especially with how much fur you have?”

Crowkit paused, gently taking up Starlingkit’s paw in her own. She inspected her dusty pink pawpads carefully, easily spotting the offending thorn burrowed deep in her paw. “You do,” she murmured somberly. “Maybe Birdsong can get it out for you.”

”Good idea,” piped Ravenkit, flicking her ear and disentangling the last knot from her fur. “We can pick out all the burrs from your fur while she treats you.”

Starlingkit huffed indignantly. “I can do it myself!” she cries, starting to strut towards the medicine den with a limp, Crowkit trailing soon after. Ravenkit rolls her eyes with a sigh and follows.

The Medicine Cat Den is shaded adequately on all four sides with only little streams of sunlight filtering through gaps in the reinforced bramble wall. The ground is soft and loamy and littered with fallen pine needles, where kittens and apprentices could fall and trip without consequence. Songbird worked silently in the far back with Hazelpaw next to her, coughing hard. Far to the right, Smoketail rested in a pre-prepared nest, her whip-like tail resting across her nose. 

“Here Hazelpaw,” Songbird cooed softly, pushing a plant with fluffy yellow flowers closer to the apprentice. “That should keep away the cough for now.”

”Thanks Songbird,” Hazelpaw mewed hoarsely. She coughed again before taking up the bitter smelling herb in her mouth.

”What’s that?” Crowkit asked as Hazelpaw brushed past her, pointing her tail towards the apprentice’s mouth.

Songbird smiled towards them, nosing through her herb store. “That’s coltsfoot; it helps shortness of breath and coughing trouble.”

”Who cares about stupid herbs,” Starlingkit grumbles, nursing her injured foot. “We came to get a thorn out of my paw.”

Ravenkit cuffed Starlingkit’s ear with her paw. “Be polite,” she hissed.

Songbird laughed cheerily, placing a slender white paw on Starlingkit’s in order to turn it over. “We can’t have your paw compromise now, or else you can’t make trouble,” she purrs, leaning down and inspecting her paw.

”We don’t make trouble,” Crowkit defends softly. “Not as much as Dapplekit and Shadekit.”

Starlingkit hissed in pain as Songbird pulled the thorn from the kit’s paw with a jerk of her head. The Medicine Cat spit it to the side and went back to lap gently at the small trickle of blood coming from Starlingkit’s pad. “All better,” she chimes, gently pushing the kitten away with her mottle black and orange tail. “Go and raise havoc now.”

”Thanks Songbird!” Ravenkit calls over her shoulder, already bounding away from her siblings. She emerges in the clearing, relishing in the feel of the gentle new-leaf breeze on her pelt. She can hear paw-steps thumping outside of the hollow, faster and faster until Hailspot, Whisperpool, and Doveheart emerge in the clearing with a stranger in tow.

”Who is that?” Spottedstride hissed, beckoning her kits and drawing Shadekit and Dapplekit close to her belly. Ravenkit, Crowkit, and Starlingkit huddled close to their fathers.

“He’s hurt,” Songbird whispered gravely from her spot in the Medicine Den. She beckoned the patrol close with her mottled tail. The clan as a whole held an ominous expression.


	4. Chapter 2

Crowkit peered out warily from beneath the thick golden fur of her father’s tail. She gazed past a forest of tall warrior legs until she could finally see the stranger. His fur, black as night, was slick with water and thick globs of river moss hung in strands from his flank. He spluttered and coughed, and Crowkit could spot a trickle of crimson flowing from his temple. His piercing blue eyes were foggy and swimming with confusion.

Dapplekit leaned forward and sniffed his paws. “He smells like the thunderpath!” she cries in disgust, wrinkling her nose. Spottedstride gently pulled the she-cat into her belly.

“Be nice Dapplekit,” Spottedstride scolded her. The Queen cuffed Dapplekit’s ear with her paw.

Crowkit can feel her papa startle from beside her. Nightshade stood tall now, a commanding tone in his voice. “Where did you find him?”

“We found him on the beach,” Whisperpool answered, lashing his tail. “He must have washed up there.”

“He was bleeding when we found him,” piped up Doveheart. “We assumed he was dead.”

“Quick, get him over here,” Songbird urged the warriors. Her ears twitched frantically and her tail lashed quickly behind her.

Hailspot and Whisperpool took up either side of the strange loner and pressed against his flanks while Doveheart trailed behind. They slowly supported him in the trek from the thorny entrance of camp to the comfortable sands of the Medicine Cat Den. As he passed, the crowd of Shadowclanners erupted in feverish gossip, each cat wondering about the strange loner’s origin.

“Maybe he got lost and ran into the lake somehow,” suggested Firelily, which prompted Rootfoot to scoff and turn his nose up. Firelily wrapped her tail around her slowly bulging belly.

“Or maybe he’s a Thunderclan spy,” Rootfoot growled, pressing his ears flat against his head and baring his teeth. “That clan is planning something, I know it.”

Frostear nudged Rootfoot with his paw, quivering his long, crooked whiskers. “You’re just being paranoid.”

Crowkit’s surrogate mother, Mudflower, came rushing close to Tatteredstar. The mangled leader deftly avoided her, sidestepping her and limping off towards the Medicine Den. “Stay with Nightshade,” he called over his shoulder before disappearing in the shade of the thorn bush. Mudflower engaged in hushed discussion with her papa, and Nightshade looked back at her with a steely yellow gaze. Crowkit turned to her sisters.

“Oh, I’ll chase that tom straight to twolegplace!” Starlingkit bragged. She batted the air with her paw and reared up, nearly crashing atop Ravenkit. Ravenkit skittered out of the way upon spotting the shadow. She turned back on Starlingkit with annoyance flickering in her eyes.

“Starlingkit, we don’t even know who he is yet,” scolded Ravenkit. “You couldn’t even get to the thunderpath without stopping for rests five times in between anyways. You need to cut down on the mice!”

Starlingkit inhaled sharply. “Why, I’ll show you who needs to cut down on the mice!” she cried, easily bowling Ravenkit over with her far superior weight.

_ Why are they always fighting like that?  _ Crowkit wondered wordlessly, giving a few embarrassed licks of her chest fur.  _ I’ve got to get out of here before they get the attention of the entire camp. _

Crowkit turned tail and fled into the darker recesses of camps, heaving a sigh as Ravenkit and Starlingkit’s quarrelling grew distant and quiet. She turned her wide yellow gaze to the thorn wall she had retreated to and her eyes strayed to the spot in the wall that she and her siblings had broken. She gazed through the hole curiously, seeing wild rose and hazelnut clump together just beyond the insurmountable barrier. At the base of a tall redwood, a dark-coloured squirrel with large, fluffy ears emerged from deep green foliage. It sniffed the air cautiously, searching for signs of danger. Crowkit padded forwards silently, raising a paw in preparation to exit through the hole. Her mouth watered at the thought of sinking her teeth into the plump flesh of the small mammal.

_ Maybe if I just… _

_ No,  _ Crowkit told herself firmly. She retracted her paw and thought better, instead shifting her attention to the rustling thorns of the Medicine Den. Soft snippets of conversation drifted from the gaps in the thickets and a gentle breeze pushed her towards it. The shadows shifted around her, masking her approach.

She sniffed along the edge of the easternmost wall and wrinkled her nose as the faintest scent of bitter herbs hit her nose. She gritted her teeth and pushed forwards anyways. Crowkit’s sleek black pelt slid through the thorns like a fish evading claws and she invaded the wall easily. She could hear the conversation without having to strain now, and she could even see the faintest of silhouettes through the prickly brambles obscuring her vision.

“What’s his name?” Tatteredstar queried, staring gravely through the dim half-light.

“He says he goes by Alvari,” Songbird answered. Crowkit could hear her paws shuffling along the pine-riddled floor. “He was banged up when he came in. Had some sore spots on his head. I imagine he tried to brave the lake and hit some rocks on the way.”

Doveheart, Whisperpool, and Hailspot had left the den already. Crowkit could smell their lingering scent being eaten up by the suffocating smell of dock and marigold. She could hear Hailspot whispering with Redstreak just outside of the den. She reluctantly turned her attention back to the interior of the Medicine Den. Her father was still interrogating Birdsong.

“Do you know what he wants with Shadowclan?”

“He didn’t want  _ anything _ Tatteredstar,” Birdsong answers tersely. “He just washed up here. My impression is that he got lost. All he needed was our help.”

“You can understand my wariness,” Tatteredstar begins with a sigh, flicking his long, fluffy tail-tip. “It’s just been so peaceful. Tensions are bound to rise soon.”

Birdsong turns on Tatteredstar and Crowkit cowers in the thorns. She had never seen this kind of fire in the calico’s kind blue eyes before. “You have no reason to be wary,” she whispers, careful not to wake her patients. “Unlike some cats, not every stranger has the worst intentions the first time you meet them.”

A hush falls over the two and they avoid each other’s gazes. Crowkit begins to feel a crushing weight on her chest.  _ I shouldn’t be here, _ she thought to herself, yet her paws stay rooted to the ground. She can feel something wash over her, as if turning her to stone. She saw Tatteredstar look back up, his eyes narrowed and his ears pressed back against his head. His tail lashed against the ground, stirring up pine needles, discarded thorns, and small flowers in its wake.

“That was moons ago, Songbird,” he protested. “I was young and stupid. You can’t hold a grudge against me for something I did when I was still developing an identity.”

“You can’t tell me what to do,” Songbird shot back, blue lightning flickering in her heated gaze. “So I can and will hold a grudge. Now either ask more questions about Alvari’s status or get out, because I am not having this conversation right now.”

Songbird turned her back entirely now, putting her shoulders and her back into the sorting of her herbs. Bravely, Tatteredstar weathered the storm and drifted further back into the den. Crowkit strained past the intertwining thorns, keeping her father’s lumbering form steady in her gaze. Tatteredstar stopped beside Alvari’s nest and leaned towards his long, patchy fur, inspecting his chest as it rose up and down with fitful rest. Tatteredstar opened his mouth but closed it quickly, biting his tongue.

“Songbird, I’m tired of us dancing around the issue,” he sighed finally. “You never want to have this conversation. If not now, then when?”

Songbird only mulled over her stores of dark-coloured berries and bitter leaves a moment longer. She turned suddenly, rounding on Tatteredstar. “Fine, lets have this conversation then. If you’re done skirting around the problem, then so am I.”

There was a sudden tug from behind her. Crowkit felt a pair of teeth wrap tight around her long tail and drag her away from the thorn brush, dragging barbs and prickles in the process and scattering them across the sandy clearing. The kitten turned on her back, looking past the burning sun and fixating her gaze on Nightshade. He stared at her with disapproval in his haunting yellow eyes and she felt a wave of shame wash over her. Crowkit flattened her ears against her head, waiting for her papa to reprimand her sharply.

“I was wondering where you went,” Nightshade started, bringing Crowkit to her paws with a long kick against her flank. “Eavesdropping is rude, you should know better.”

Crowkit bowed her head deep. Her tail dragged in the sand and her heavy ears drooped. “I’m sorry,” she managed. She only barely held back a stream of tears, although her voice did crack with the weight of her perceived sins.

“It’s okay,” Nightshade relented upon seeing her wavering green eyes. “You got curious. Some conversations are better left mysteries though. Come on, let’s go find something more interesting to do.”

Crowkit gave only a meek nod in response, unable to meet her papa’s piercing yellow eyes. She trailed after him dejectedly, casting her gaze forwards. Ravenkit and Starlingkit still scrabbled in the sand roughly but Crowkit felt little need to join them. She tossed her head over her shoulder, peering deep into the darkness of the Medicine Den and narrowing her eyes at the sight of the silhouettes arguing heatedly.

_ What could they have been talking about? _

 

_ — _

 

Four sunrises had passed since Alvari’s fateful arrival in Shadowclan. The nursery was slowly getting roomier; Shadekit and Dapplekit had finally reached the ages to become an apprentice and both Mudflower and Firelily had been quarantined in the Medicine Den after Birdsong discovered both coughing blood into their nests. The boisterous sisters now had the den entirely to themselves, and Starlingkit did all she could to make the most of it all. 

“Gotcha!” Starlingkit cried triumphantly, using her paws to latch onto Ravenkit’s hindquarters and trip her just as she moved to run. “I win again! You are bad at this game.”

“I’m not bad, there’s just no statistical way to win if you are the mouse,” Ravenkit defended herself with a prideful lick of her chest fur. She deftly escaped her sister’s grasp, shaking bits of scattered moss from her only black flank. “I swear to Starclan I would win everytime if I was the hunter!”

“No you wouldn’t!” Starlingkit responded indignantly. She leaned down and lashed her tail as if it would give her an edge in the argument.

Crowkit sat off to the side of the common quarrel. Her eyes were watching her two sisters but her attention went far beyond them, as if she could see directly past their tumbling bodies. The small kitten’s mind kept tumbling back to the heated conversation she had witnessed between her father and Birdsong. The lightning in the Medicine Cat’s eyes kept flickering in the stormy recesses of her mind, no matter how much she tried to ignore it.

_ What were they talking about? Why was Birdsong so angry at papa? What conversation did they keep avoiding? What— _

A spray of sand flicked into her face and Crowkit coughed wildly, spitting bits and grains of the stuff onto the ground. Starlingkit and Ravenkit were staring at her expectantly now. 

“Well, what do you think, Crowkit?” Ravenkit asks her and Crowkit stares, dumbfounded. She searched for an answer but all that leaked from her bobbing jaws were a few squeaks and good-natured chirps. Starlingkit groans loudly. 

“Ugh,” Starlingkit whined. “Of course she wasn’t even listening. Why’d we even ask her?”

“Well I’m bored of hunter and prey anyways. We should do something else today,” Ravenkit delivered an ultimatum, gesturing vaguely to the calm breeze just beyond the flickering sage fronds of the nursery. 

“Oh!” piped Crowkit suddenly. “We could go see that loner! I’m sure he has all kinds of fun stories!”

“We were looking for something actually fun, not snooze-worthy,” Starlingkit scoffed. Ravenkit cuffed her ear.

“You’re just being difficult,” Ravenkit mewed. “Sounds like a good idea to me. Let’s go!”

Starlingkit moaned in annoyance as Ravenkit bounded towards the exit of the nursery. Crowkit followed soon after, the skin on her nose being tickled by her sister’s prickly tail fur.

The three littermates emerged in the sun-filled hollow of camp. At the very base of the meeting tree where Tatteredstar slept beneath the roots, Nightshade stood at the head of a crowd of cats. He narrowed his eyes and flicked his tail, assigning various faces to patrols along the border. Crowkit could see Tatteredstar’s green eyes peer from the darkness of the hazel roots but he did not move from his spot. Crowkit got the impression he was deep in thought and she felt her fur prickle with curiosity. The bramble entrance rustled as Redstreak, Badgerstripe, and Mousepaw broke away from the conifers. Mousepaw bounded up to the fresh-kill pile and deposited a large thrush, his eyes wide and his smile even larger.

Ravenkit led the way to the Medicine Den, but Starlingkit soon trotted further ahead. Their paws sent up sprays of sand and dirt in their struggle for dominance over the group. Crowkit trailed a tail-length behind them, dutifully noting their rowdiness.

_ It’s best I don’t get in their way,  _ she noted, only barely avoiding a scuff from Ravenkit as she lashed her tail in annoyance.

Crowkit pressed her way into the Medicine Den last, and she felt her deep black fur press up against the thorn wall uncomfortably. A chorus of coughs erupted from deep within the den. Mudflower hacked violently in a bed of moss and feathers and Firelily sat beside her. The younger queen gently rubbed Mudflower’s flank with her bushy red tail and soothed her with soft whispers. Adjacent to their nests, Alvari had stood up within his own and now groomed his short, patchy fur. Crowkit nearly had not noticed him for he blended expertly into the dim half-light of the den.

Starlingkit wrinkled her nose as a wall of bitter smells hit her. “Why can’t we make him come outside? It stinks in here.”

“Stop complaining,” Ravenkit grumbled, moving closer to Alvari. She stared up at him with wide green eyes and her siblings soon followed. “Hi Alvari. Did you come from the twolegplace?”

The black tom stopped short of swiping his paw over his ear and opened his rheumy eyes. Crowkit gasped upon spotting them. His left was a brilliant glittering jade while his right was a deep, creamy brown. He purred in amusement at her reaction and smiled, quivering his uneven whiskers. His ear flicked, and Crowkit’s eyes danced with curiosity as she realized it was ragged and torn. He used his pitch black paw to adjust the cobwebs and pinnate green leaves pulled taut across his temple.

_ I wonder what those herbs are for... _

“I came from a lot of places, but the twolegplace was one of them,” he began. His voice was rough and scratchy from age and moons of disuse. “I assume you’d like some stories?”

Crowkit, Ravenkit, and Starlingkit nod, rapt with attention.

“Well settle in then, this might be a long one,” Alvari started and lowered his paw to rest it on his moss bed, flattened beneath him. “The twolegplace I came from was one with massive stone dens that reached all the way up to nightpelt and a massive thunderpath that ran everywhere throughout. Monsters were everywhere and twolegs were too, so there was never any peace or quiet.”

“Did you ever see trees? Or grass?” Crowkit queried.

“Yes, but they didn’t grow in the way they do here,” Alvari responded after thinking for a few heartbeats. “In fact, I saw the twolegs put them in the ground themselves. The kind of trees that could blow over with a few windstorms.”

“Were there lots of dogs? Or any other cats?” Starlingkit asked.

“There were plenty of dogs and lots of cats. My kind usually hid in the spaces between the stone dens and ate the stuff that twolegs didn’t, which they threw in these large metal carriers that caught the sun.”

“Wow! That sounds so cool,” Ravenkit remarked with wide eyes.

“Well, there were quite a bit of dangers too. Rats commonly fought us for territory in massive droves, and I lost a lot of friends beneath the paws of monsters. But we were tough.” Alvari extrapolated and then smiled, memories flickering in his odd-colored eyes. “I met this one she-cat who smelled like pine sap and frogs wandering the twolegplace. She was lost. Her pelt was like snow, and her eyes—oh, her  _ eyes _ —they were this incredible shade of yellow that glittered like the stars themselves.”

The three sisters were mystified by the description, and a vivid image of the strange she-cat wavered deep in Crowkit’s mind.

“She said she used to live in the same twolegplace but that she had not returned for a long time. She went on and on about her home in the forest, where pine needles covered the floor and she could hear the lake no matter where she went.”

“She must have been talking about Shadowclan,” deduced Ravenkit, tapping her left forearm with her right paw twice.

“Exactly,” Alvari confirmed, and Crowkit could see Ravenkit lap at her chest fur with a prideful grin in the corner of her eyes. “Which is why I came here. I was looking for her, but I guess she’s not here. A shame, I felt we could have gotten closer. Much closer.”

Crowkit narrowed her eyes and pressed closer to Starlingkit, although her sister’s broader, warmer form offered little comfort. At Alvari’s last note, the kitten felt a cold wave wash over her and her heart race suddenly, but she couldn’t place exactly why. She turned her head and inspected her sibling’s expressions. Starlingkit leaned forward on her haunches despite her initial disinterest and Ravenkit was blinking incredulously at the strange loner.

_ It’s nothing, calm down, _ she tried to convince herself silently, but she could still feel her heart pound hard deep within her concave chest. 

A scuffling of paws at the back of the den made Crowkit whip around, eyes blown wide and hackles raised in defense. Nightshade’s tail whisked out of the den and away from her sight, and she could see the sparse tussocks of grass beside the entrance flattened from his weight. Smoketail, lying in a moss nest beside the earth stared after him, sniffling and wavering from dizziness.

“Why do you think he left in such a rush?” Ravenkit wondered, having turned back to Alvari. Crowkit saw his shoulders shrug dismissively but his mis-colored eyes glittered dangerously.

“Maybe he had some duties to attend to,” Crowkit tried to reason, but even she doubted it. She pressed closer to Starlingkit, who puffed up and spoke in a loud voice.

“Or maybe he went to beat up some apprentices who were causing trouble! I know I would if I were him,” Starlingkit suggested. She leaned down into a crouch and lashed her tail, then swatted the air with a heavy paw.

Songbird’s bustling presence replaced Nightshade and the thorn entrance rustled as she emerged into the den. Her jaw clamped tightly around long, waxy leaves with small hairs on them that shone when the sun landed on them. The Medicine Cat deposited them in her slowly dwindling herb store and quickly sorted them into their respective slots. She whipped around and offered a polite smile to the three kittens but it was clear she was agitated by her prickled fur and darkening green eyes.

“It’s a little too crowded in here for story time,” she told them, and Crowkit bowed her head, unable to meet her gaze in case she saw the same smouldering fire she saw four sunrises ago. “Try getting a story from the elder’s den. I’m sure Alvari still has a killer headache anyways.”

All four cats turned their attention to the mentioned tom and he withered under their gaze. He placed a paw high over his head and flumped into his nest, a sheet of feathers flying up in the process. “Yes, it is quite terrible still,” he frowned and a melodramatic tone laced his words. Crowkit narrowed her eyes.

“You heard her,” said Ravenkit, and she used her tail to urge the three of them past Smoketail and into the sunny clearing just beyond the thorny tunnel. “Thanks Alvari!’ she called behind her shoulder.

“Let’s see if Nightpaw and Dapplepaw are free to be Windclanners in a clan game,” Starlingkit announced, bounding far ahead of them. Ravenkit followed soon after.

“I’ll be Ravenstar and you can be deputy this time!”

“That’s not how it works! The one who suggests the game gets to be the most important,” Starlingkit responded with a matter-of-fact tone. Crowkit could hear their arguing fade into the gentle chatter within the Shadowclan camp but she did not join them.

She stood at the exit, her paws wavering there. She cast her gaze over her shoulder and watched as Birdsong let Alvari lap tiny poppy seeds from her pawpad. He leaned back up and settled closer into his nest. He suddenly met her gaze and Crowkit swore his one brown eye turned black in the shade. Feeling her tummy swirl and her heart race with uneven palpitations, she quickly bustled from the den. She had a feeling she was not just being paranoid at this point.


	5. Chapter 3

Starlingkit awoke in her nest. A cool breeze ruffled her fur from gaps in the thick bramble wall of the nursery. She blinked away sleep from her deep copper eyes and rubbed rheum away from the valleys to the side of her nose. Her eyes raked across the nursery. It had been two moons since Alvari arrived in camp and he had made himself comfortable within the ranks of ShadowClan. Starlingkit silently wondered if she could ask for another story soon.

A surge of excitement surged through her belly as she realized what day it was. Her father had promised her ceremony soon two sunrises ago, Starlingkit recalled, and she had been itching with anticipation the remaining two moonrises. Starlingkit stretched in her nest and her two hind paws brushed against the sides of the nursery barrier in her corner of the den. She nudged Ravenkit with her dipped white paws, who was still resting beside her. “Wake up,” she breathed, rich brown eyes glittering in the dim dawn light.

“Mmm,” Ravenkit mumbled, not opening her eyes. “Why? The patrols haven’t even been sent out yet.”

“What do you mean why? It’s our apprentice ceremony today!”

“Dad’s not going to give the ceremony before even the birds have woken up,” Ravenkit murmured finally, rolling over and resting her tail over her nose. “Go back to sleep.” Her voice was muffled by her jet-black fur.

Starlingkit felt indignance rush through her.  _ Just because he won’t do it now doesn’t mean we can’t prepare for it early! _

Starlingkit got to her paws. She could feel energy tickle her toes and prickle her fur. She couldn’t possibly lay down for any longer.

She peered through the deep darkness to spot Firelily’s steadily breathing form. While Firelily had gotten over her brief cough, Mudflower was still quarantined within the Medicine Den and Spottedstride was long gone once her kits had become apprentices. Starlingkit felt a prickle of pride as she noticed the tiny kits curled up next to her belly; Blazekit, Lightningkit, and Cherrykit.  _ They’ll never get to be as big as me!  _ Starlingkit reassured herself and raised her chin into the air snootily. 

With a regal posture, Starlingkit stepped past Ravenkit’s jutting paw and Crowkit’s long tail. She squeezed through the prickly bramble exit.

Cold dawn air stung her nose as she emerged in ShadowClan camp. Silverpelt was still dark but Starlingkit could see the furious glory of the sun begin to peek over the horizon. Only one other cat was in the camp. Starlingkit watched as Snowpatch’s streaming white tail disappear in the entrance to the dirt place. Her paws grew wet with dew as she began to trudge about the edge of camp, hearing the forest beginning to rise with the sun.

Starlingkit kept her paws in the milky dawn light and avoided the shadows creeping along the edges of camp. She puffed up her fur to act as a barrier against the gentle morning wind and it buffeted her flank lightly. Starlingkit’s eyes glowed with accomplishment as the gnarled hazel tree was haloed by light. She could see dark shapes stirring beneath it’s curled roots and she drew closer. She peered past the darkness and into the leader’s den, noticing Tatteredstar’s white and golden tabby fur and looking closer to realize Nightshade’s inky black flank. Their chests rose and fell in unison.

Starlingkit poked her paw into Tatteredstar’s side sharply, having no qualms about ruining the ephemeral peace. “Dad,” she whined lowly. “When will you do my ceremony?”

Tatteredstar snorted and stirred in his nest. He rose his head and stared Starlingkit in the eye. Starlingkit could barely make out the bi-colored eyes in the dimness, glancing from a single blue eye to a single green eye as if they would run away from her. She silently wondered how his left eye had been scarred so badly, forcing him to squint. Tatteredstar sighed heavily and opened his mouth in a yawn. Starlingkit marvelled at his sharp teeth, her eyes twinkling as they caught the dawn light. Starlingkit smiled innocently upon seeing Tatteredstar’s palpably annoyed expression.

“Soon,” he answered shortly. “Just be patient.”

“Well how long is soon?”

“Soon enough,” Tatteredstar sighed. He leaned his head down. “Go back to sleep Starlingkit.”

“Why can’t I stay here and wait? It’s not going to take all day,” Starlingkit tried to reason, but frowned as her father shrugged his shoulder dismissively.

“I could make it take all day if you keep bothering me.” Starlingkit gasped at the prospect. She stared at him with wide copper eyes, mouth agape in protest. “Now go lay back down. Nightshade will be in soon to groom you and your sisters for the ceremony.”

Starlingkit frowned when she saw Tatteredstar close his eyes.  _ Guess I won’t win this argument _ , she thought.

“Fine, I’ll be good,” she relented. Starlingkit turned on her heel and put the looming hazel tree behind her. By now the sun had climbed high enough so that it balanced on the very tip of the large conifers that surrounding the camp’s clearing. Sunlight began to trickle through gaps in the thick branches and dappled across the packed sand and dirt of the ShadowClan clearing. Snowpatch came in from the dirtplace and brushed past Redstreak on her way into the warriors den. Redstreak found a relatively sunny patch of ground and began to groom his vibrant red fur there, relishing in the early dawn dew. Starlingkit found no interest in him. She strutted past him and squeezed her way back into the nursery again.

Ravenkit was now sitting up in her nest and engaging in polite conversation with a dozing Firelily, who nursed her kits. Crowkit blinked awake beside her, drowsy dark circles beneath her slanted yellow eyes. Starlingkit poked at Crowkit with her paw.

“Play with me or something,” Starlingkit begged her. “Dad said the ceremony would be soon but for all we know, that could take 5 bajillion moons!”

“That’s not even possible,” Ravenkit scoffed, abandoning her conversation with a half-asleep Firelily. “You’re just being dramatic, as always.”

Crowkit yawned and arched her back in her nest, squinting back at Starlingkit. She let a sleepy smile come to her face. “I don’t think it matters,” she reassured Starlingkit. “It’s okay, I’ll play with you. What game?”

Starlingkit paused to think for a few moments. She bounds over to her nest, still warm from the night, and scoops a sticky, thick glob of moss from its depths. She begins to craft it into a ball with quick, smooth movements. She looks over and grins devilishly once she notices that Crowkit is distracted.

“Think fast!” Starlingkit cried. She batted the moss ball at Crowkit’s face and it hit her with a  _ thunk _ , sending bits and pieces of green moss everywhere. Ravenkit flinched beside her and glared at Starlingkit.

Crowkit peeled the moss away from her face with her claws, letting a good-natured laugh bubble out. The tiny kitten began to fashion the moss back into a ball and Starlingkit tensed. Still sitting, Crowkit half-heartedly batted the moss at Starlingkit and she avoided it easily. It rolls into the darker recesses of the den and and Starlingkit scrambled to retrieve it. Firelily startled awake as Starlingkit trotted hard on her outstretched tail.

“You must be more careful Starlingkit,” Firelily scolded her with a frown. “One step to the right and you could have crushed Cherrykit’s head.”

“Sorry Firelily,” Starlingkit responded, despite the little interest and attention lacing her words. She peered through the darkness and further into the back of the den, and her rich copper eyes lit up upon spotting the faint outline of the mossball amongst thick sage brush and brambles. Starlingkit batted it away from the prickly Nursery barrier and she sent it flying out of the narrow exit. Ravenkit purred in condescending amusement and Starlingkit growled.

She stomps past her sisters and pads up to the exit, feeling sunlight and warmth spread throughout her fur. She looked up and peered into the camp curiously, only for the sun to be blotted out by a wall of black as Nightshade appeared in the entrance. Starlingkit stumbled back and allowed him in. Her eyes lit up when she remembered what Tatteredstar had said to her when she bothered him about the ceremony.

“Your ceremony is approaching quickly,” Nightshade started, leaning down to avoid his head brushing the top of the nursery wall and settling beside Crowkit. He drew her in with his tail and snuggled her affectionately. “My little she-cats, growing up so quickly.”

Crowkit leans into Batshade’s warmth, purring. “So, when is the ceremony?” Starlingkit asked, not missing a beat.

“As soon as I make you three presentable,” Nightshade mewed, and he smoothed down a piece of fur on Crowkit’s head with his tongue. Ravenkit snickered beneath her breath, casting her gaze to Starlingkit’s unruly flank.

“I’m always presentable!” Starlingkit exclaimed, puffing her chest out. Ravenkit leaned forward from her nest and poked her paw at a burr just beneath her elbow. She snickered again.

“You must have very low standards for the word ‘presentable’,” teased Ravenkit. Starlingkit turned to inspect her fur and paled as she noticed multiple thorns and burrs had caught to her long pelt and entangled themselves there. She frowned, turning away from Ravenkit.

“My standards are perfect,” she rumbled quietly. “Your standards are just wrong.”

“Starlingkit, come over here, I’ll help you.” Nightshade beckoned her over with a flick of his long, tufted ears. Crowkit stepped over his massive paws and settled in Ravenkit’s nest. The two leaned into each other and Crowkit closed her wide yellow eyes. Ravenkit still looked on, a calculating glitter in her flickering green eyes. Starlingkit pranced over to her father. She desperately tried to wash Ravenkit’s gaze from her flank but nothing would keep her sister from staring.

“You’d think you’d have gone into the forest with how much twigs and brambles are in your fur,” Nightshade purred. He leaned down and began to disentangle the foreign objects from her flank. Starlingkit flinched away with every thorn he accidentally pressed further into her skin. 

“I didn’t!” Starlingkit protested. “I’m the most well-behaved daughter you’ll have!

“I’m sure,” Nightshade  _ mrowed _ in amusement. Starlingkit could hear a snigger from behind her and she resisted the urge to whip her head around and stare at Ravenkit.

Nightshade pulled the last burr from Starlingkit’s side and threw it to the ground. He licked her over to tame any cowlicks and gently pushed her away from him. Starlingpaw hardly endured the feeling of his rough tongue rasping over her fur. As soon as she was released from his grasp, she stepped over his paws and trotted to the narrow exit of the nursery and peered through the opening in the brambles. The clan was beginning to wake from it’s slumber and Smoketail had joined Redstreak at the side of the warriors den. Tatteredstar slowly pulled himself from the roots of the hazel tree and he shook the accumulated dirt and dust from his fur. The sun shone brightly into the clearing now and lit up Tatteredstar’s fur, turning his golden-and-white flank into a smouldering fire. He basks in it for only a heartbeat.

“I think you’re fine, Ravenkit,” Nightshade said behind her. “You’re all ready to become apprentices now. I’m sure you’ll be the best apprentices to ever grace ShadowClan.”

Ravenkit and Crowkit purred in amusement. Starlingkit ignored them and lashed her tail. She watched with anticipation as Tatteredstar closed the space between him and the meeting tree. Starlingkit’s eyes widened in awe as she witnessed him scale the tree effortlessly, even despite his mangled foreleg. He made his way to the branch that hung over the camp and steadied himself with his long, feathery tail. He stood at the thinnest part he could, muscles rippling beneath his pelt and his chest pushed forward in pure power. Starlingkit’s breath left her lungs and she struggled to respirate in the midst of the excitement.

“All cats who are old enough to catch their own prey, gather below the Tall Tree for a clan meeting.”

Starlingkit’s head jerked up behind her. Tatteredstar’s call brought her to attention. Nightshade brushed past her and into the clearing and her sisters pulsed and pressed beside her. “It’s finally time,” Starlingkit whispered reverently. Crowkit arched her back beside her and lifted her jaws in a wide yawn. She curled her long tail back til it touched her spine.

“It’s finally time!’ Starlingkit cried, louder this time. She hurried to be first out of the Nursery, pushing past her littermates.

“Stop pushing,” Ravenkit complained.

“Stop being slow then!” Starlingkit cheered jovially behind her.

The air outside of the den was warm and comfortable without being too suffocating. Dew glittered on the tips of the bramble barrier and the grass dripped with it, making her pawpads wet with the condensation. Smiling in the sunlight, she trotted into the crowd of cats, who were already gathering.

Starlingkit spotted Nightshade’s deep black pelt at the front of pulsing mass of cats and she joined him there. Crowkit and Ravenkit flanked her there. Crowkit looked dreamily at the milky white sky and Ravenkit stared critically up at Tatteredstar’s perch. He wobbled there, his paws clutching the soft hazel bark. Nightshade quickly smoothed down Crowkit’s fur between her ears.

“Are you ready?” Nightshade asked them.

“Of course!” Ravenkit interjected. Her eyes were shining. Nightshade cast his yellow eyes to Crowkit and Starlingkit.

“I’ve been ready for four moons,” Starlingkit proclaimed. Crowkit nodded beside her.

“I hope I’m ready,” she mewed quietly. Starlingkit could see doubt glimmer in her eyes.

“Good,” Nightshade purred. He used his long tail to smooth across Crowkit’s quivering back.

Frostear emerged from the elders’ den, guiding his blind denmate, Losteyes, with his long tail. Rootfoot limped shortly behind them. Mousepaw, Oakpaw, Baypaw, and Hazelpaw sat and whispered together, with Dapplepaw and Shadepaw leaning against eachother a few paces away. Ratface, Hailspot, and Doveheart padded away from the fresh-kill pile, abandoning the remains of their dawn meal. Within a heartbeat, all eyes burned into Tatteredstar’s tabby flank. Starlingkit’s paws itched with anticipation as the clan’s dull chatter died into a suffocating silence. 

“I gather you all here today for a ceremony I’ve promised.” Starlingkit withers under Tatteredstar’s sudden stare. “Today, Starlingkit, Ravenkit, and Crowkit will become apprentices.

The crowd murmured in approval. Starlingkit puffed out her chest in pride. “Starlingkit,” Tatteredstar calls suddenly. Starlingkit steps away from her family, breaking away from the crowd.

“From this day forward, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Starlingpaw.” Starlingpaw felt her heart swell and pulse with the new name. “May Starclan guide your paws and keep you safe throughout your apprentice moons so that you can emerge as a strong, courageous warrior.”

The clan called her name, a single voice raised up the now blue sky. Starlingpaw could feel her sisters call loudest of all, even Crowkit. She turned back and fixed them with her eyes, and Nightshade, Crowkit, and Ravenkit smiled at her. Excitement fluttered through and her and she felt so light on her paws that the early morning breeze might carry her into ThunderClan territory.

“Hailspot,” Tatteredstar called.

The silver tabby she-cat lifted her head and stepped away from the crowd, brushing past Whisperpool. Although her face was dull, excitement showed in the twitching tip of her tail.

“You mentored Smoketail and she had shown to be a wonderful warrior,” Tatteredstar began. “Now I ask you to pass on your determined and hard-working nature to Starlingpaw by becoming her mentor.”

Hailspot dipped her head. “I will make her into a wonderful warrior.”

Starlingpaw bounded forward and pressed her nose against Hailspot’s. Her new mentor melted back into the pulsing mass of cats and Starlingpaw moved back to her family. She pressed in between Ravenkit and Crowkit and buzzed and shook with energy. Crowkit trembled in response.

“Ravenkit,” Tatteredstar called from his perch.

Ravenkit raced from her side and Starlingpaw felt the heat recede from her flank. Ravenkit now stood as an outlier of the crowd, craning her head to stare up at Tatteredstar.

“From this day on you will be known as Ravenpaw, until you receive your warrior name.”

“Ravenpaw! Ravenpaw!” Starlingpaw cried out, leading the chant this time. Even despite their stark differences and their common arguments, Starlingpaw loved her littermate and relished in the glory their joint apprenticeship offered. Ravenpaw stared back at her and a crooked grin appeared on her maw.

“Ratface,” Tatteredstar called.

Ratface dragged himself from the crowd and Starlingpaw could see his crooked whiskers, yellowed teeth, and badly scarred face. She winced at the choice. The light in Ravenpaw’s eyes faded and she frowned now.  _ I hope you can deal with him, Ravenpaw… _

“I know that you will teach Ravenpaw well,” Tatteredstar meowed. “I implore StarClan to guide your paws as well as Ravenpaw’s and imbue her with the wisdom and knowledge she needs.”

Ratface only nodded. He leaned down and bumped noses with Ravenpaw before returning to the crowd. Ravenpaw wrinkled her nose and came to Starlingpaw’s side. She rubbed at her nose with her paw, as if trying to remove his scent from hers. Surprised, Crowkit glanced to the two of them.

“Finally, Crowkit,” Tatteredstar announced and beamed down from his spot on the hazel branch.

Crowkit stepped forward and nearly fell over from a firm gust of wind. She shivered and shook as she stepped away from the crowd and Starlingpaw felt compelled to come out and join her.  _ She looks so nervous,  _ Starlingpaw thought sadly.

“From this day on, you will be known as Crowpaw until you become a warrior.” Tatteredstar was still smiling, as if his jovial spirit might raise Crowpaw’s.

Ravenpaw and Starlingpaw called Crowpaw’s new name in unison. Crowpaw stood in the clearing, paralyzed. Her yellow eyes were clouded over and stormy and looked about herself as if her clanmates might suddenly become monsters and race to eat her whole. Starlingpaw desperately hoped Crowpaw would not bury her head in the sand.

“Songbird,” Tatteredstar meowed powerfully, motioning her into the front. “You have proved to be a skilled and calm Medicine Cat. I trust you fully to train Crowpaw in the way of herbs and in the art of understanding Starclan’s riddles.”

“I will make sure she becomes even better than me,” Songbird assured him and turned to Crowpaw. She smiled gently down at her and Crowpaw’s posture immediately relaxed. The two touched noses and returned to their individual spots in the clan. Starlingpaw could see tears prickling at Crowpaw’s eyes in the corner of her own.

The whole clan raised their voices to cheer on the new apprentices. Tatteredstar quieted them with a flick of his tail. “ShadowClan is lucky to have so many apprentices. I know each and every one of them with train hard so that they can become respectable warriors in the near future.”

Starlingpaw grinned wildly. “When will we start?”

“I’m ready to go right now!” Ravenpaw cried beside her. Crowpaw stayed silent.

“That’s up to your mentors.” Tatteredstar meowed as he began to walk back to the base of the hazel tree, limping slightly. “Meeting dismissed!”

Starlingpaw searched for Hailspot in the weaving mass of cats as they went back to their dawn activities. She spotted her streaming silver pelt with a start and Starlingpaw avoided Badgerstripe and Smoketail in her path to her new mentor. “Hailspot, we can train soon, can’t we?”

Hailspot turned and faced her with a quiver of her whiskers. She glanced back to the retreating, scraggly brown fur of Ratface as he disappeared into the forest with Ravenpaw at his heels. “Yes, Ratface and I agreed to take you out on a lesson right now,” Hailspot meowed, and she turned towards the thick, thorny exit. “Let’s go or we’ll never catch up to them.”

Starlingpaw grinned and bounded past her. “Alright! Best mentor ever!” She could feel Hailspot move past her and emerged into the forest.  


Starlingpaw hesitated and turned back. She looked out to the clearing where her clanmates had once gathered and spotted Crowpaw, having never left where she had been sitting for the ceremony. Nightshade was long gone and already giving out patrols but Starlingpaw saw Songbird’s mostly white body weave around Crowpaw. The Medicine Cat whispered something to her and smiled gently but Crowpaw didn’t react.  _ She’s like a statue,  _ Starlingpaw noted silently and her ears pressed back against her head. Her sister seemed paralyzed and Starlingpaw couldn’t possibly discern what she was so frightened about. A twinge of guilt raked at Starlingpaw’s heart as she turned away from the scene and bounded into the forest, chasing her mentor’s silvery tail.


	7. Chapter 4

Ravenpaw followed Ratface dutifully, and she could feel his tail flick her nose every so often. Just below the dull chatter of grosbeaks in the surrounding hemlock trees, Ravenpaw could hear Starlingpaw and Hailspot speak quietly behind her.

Ravenpaw trudged up a steep incline. “What are we doing?” she asked.

“I’m going to show you the territory before we do anything,” Ratface rumbled gruffly. Ravenpaw wrinkled her nose and cringed as she heard him.  _ His voice sounds like the roar of a monster… _

“Are we going to see the borders too?” Ravenpaw wondered, trotting up the hill and cresting it’s ridge so that she could fall into step at the flank of her mentor.

“Yes,” Ratface confirmed, flicking his whiskers and coughing up thick globs of phlegm for a few seconds. “As long as you can handle it.”

“I can handle it, I promise,” meowed Ravenpaw. Anticipation fluttered through her paws.

“Yeah, right,” Ratface sneered, a crooked, gap-tooth smile spreading across his face. “I’m sure a kitten who hasn’t ever stepped out of the camp can make it to the border.”

“That’s not fair!” Ravenpaw protested. “You can’t underestimate me because I’m young!”

“I can and I will,” Ratface responded with a noncommittal shrug of his broad, bony shoulders. “Now be quiet.”

Ratface and Ravenpaw squeezed through a narrow opening in a thick patch of elderberries and emerged into a sun-filled clearing with a large twoleg nest resting between large ridges of land. Two massive elm trees flanked either side of it, and a large structure made of spiked wood separated the thick tussocks of crabgrass from the neatly trimmed lawn of the twoleg structure. The thick underbrush rustled as Starlingpaw and Hailspot entered the clearing as well. A beaten path led away from the den and deeper into the dark forest. Ravenpaw tried to follow the trail with her eyes until the weaving track lost way into the deep shadows cast by the canopy of evergreens.

“The twoleg nest,” Ratface explained, his nose twitching and his maw lifting open to taste the air. “It’s usually quiet around here, but two kittypets live here and they don’t take kindly to any cat trespassing.”

“Doveheart was telling me she saw them once,” Hailspot broke in. Ravenpaw looked back and saw her eyes grow clouded. “She said that they were large and muscular, and that they nearly pounced on Smoketail. The prey isn’t even that good around here.”

“I bet I could take them on!” cried Starlingpaw. She grinned triumphantly and puffed out her chest fur, which was brushed with a cold, damp wind running from the tall foothills rising just behind the tan twoleg nest.

“I bet you would come back to camp with your tail between your legs,” Ratface grumbled in response. Ravenpaw cast him a puzzled look.

“Why did you show us if you don’t even want us coming here?” Ravenpaw asked him, pressing further back into the trees. She felt much more comfortable beneath the dappled shade of the conifers. “You know that saying we shouldn’t take on these kittypets will only make Starlingpaw want to do it more, right?”

Ratface shook out his fur and his long, kinked tail flicked lowly against the ground. “I’m not the kind of mentor to not tell you everything in hopes that you never encounter it. It’s best that you know the dangers so that if you do something reckless, you may be prepared.”

“I would never do anything reckless!” Starlingpaw squawked from behind her. Ravenpaw shook her head in amused disappointment.

“I can’t help but not believe that,” Ratface grumbled sharply. His eyes searched the top of the ridge that served as a background for the twoleg nest and Ravenpaw looked too, but she couldn’t find anything of interest. 

_ Why does Ratface seem so… jaded? _ Ravenpaw thought privately, finally letting her maw open. She could taste the damp air, still thick with dew and humidity. A heavy, suffocating scent of garbage and monster fumes came and settled on her tongue, and Ravenpaw immediately shut her mouth and pursed her lips in disgust.

“It smells like crowfood here!” she complained loudly, settling on her haunches and rubbing at her mouth with her paws in hope that she could remove the acrid taste from her mouth. She rolled it over and over again against her tongue, her nose wrinkling considerably. Starlingpaw gagged behind her.

“On that note,” Hailspot interjected. “Let’s get out of here. We don’t want to ruin your appetite for when we return to camp.”

Hailspot pressed Starlingpaw back into the line of trees and disappeared into the deep darkness soon after her. Ratface was the next to enter the yawning abyss, and Ravenpaw stepped towards it. A sudden curiosity swelling deep in her heart, she tossed her head over her shoulders and let her jade green eyes search the sunkissed line of twoleg innovation. On top of the spiky wooden fence, a brown she-cat with sleek fur and lean muscles sat. The sunlight caught the she-cat’s jade green eyes and Ravenpaw felt a deep pit of dread sink into her belly like a stone. She turned away and leapt back into the comfort of her sheltered territory.

A cold chill swept over her as Ravenpaw exited the dawn light and disappeared into the darkness of Shadowclan territory. She took up Ratface’s side silently and cast her eyes to her paw, watching with fascination as her claws tipped into the thick mulch underpaw and suffocated the scattered pine needles beneath her weight. She felt coarse fur under her chin as Ratface used his tail to keep her gaze up and forward.

“Watch where you’re going,” Ratface told her. A deep frown overtook Ravenpaw’s face and she stewed in silence, avoiding thick pine trees and following her sister’s streaming black tail through the sparse foliage.

_ I wonder what crawled into his fur and died, _ Ravenpaw thought bitterly, casting a poisonous side glance to Ratface’s profile. She traced the jagged line of his facial scar with her eyes, watching as it started at the top of his right brow, crossed to his muzzle, and disappeared to the other side of his face. He swerved suddenly to the side and Ravenpaw averted her eyes with barely enough time to dodge the hemlock trunk standing tall in her path.

She looked forwards now, her ears perking. Just beneath the sound of Hailspot’s and Starlingpaw’s jovial conversation, she could hear the chirping of restless morning doves and the push and pull of the lake’s waters on the shore. The rocky soil beneath her paws sloped down from the steep incline further into ShadowClan territory and gave way to loamy sand and grains. The group emerged from the thick line of trees and they crossed the distance from the very edge of the forest to where the water lapped at the shore. Ravenpaw cast her eyes towards the endless horizon.

The sun glittered across the choppy water and cast the lake in a warm glow. Faintly, the shape of a ridge and rolling hills could be seen rising steeply away from the water, and moorland winds whipped at Ravenpaw’s quivering nose. Flanked on either side of them, two half-bridges held firm against the steady lap of the water. The halfbridge to the right of them connected to the Greenleaf Twolegplace, smelling faintly of monsters, while the halfbridge to the left sat untouched, broke and collapsed against the elements.

“Ah, it’s cold!” Starlingpaw cried in front of her. Ravenpaw saw her shaking water from her creamy toes, fur fluffed up against the breeze and nose wrinkled in disgust. She skirted away from the tide, leering at the water with a deep amber gaze.

“Of course it’s cold,” Hailspot quipped curtly. “Just don’t get too close to the water and you should be fine. Not even RiverClan tries swimming in the lake.”

“Why not?” Ravenpaw asked, watching Hailspot curiously.

“The waters can get pretty rough here,” Hailspot explained, bristling her silver fur. “In a storm, the tide can sweep you away and throw you to the bottom.”

“Why can the RiverClanners handle the rivers but not the lake? Aren’t they the water cats?” Ravenpaw pressed further.

“Not even RiverClanners are that stupid,” Ratface cut in. “And neither should you be. If you value your life, you wouldn’t even touch the lake. It’s too big for kits like you.”

Starlingpaw bristled now, and Ravenpaw struggled to smooth down her own fur. “I’m big enough as it is!” Starlingpaw defended herself.

“You got that right,” Ravenpaw snickered beneath her breath. She raised a paw and poked gently at Starlingpaw’s kitten chub, feeling it jiggle under the pressure. Starlingpaw leapt back and bared her teeth, curling her tail to protect her flank.

“Stop messing around,” Ratface quipped, cuffing Starlingpaw’s ear with his paw. She coiled back and stared at him. “It’s time to move on. We’ll be going to the Thunderclan border now.”

“Oh, they better watch out for me!” Starlingpaw cried, bouncing on her paws and kicking up sand as she raced in the direction of the broken halfbridge. Hailspot watched after her, shook her head, sighed, and began to follow her lead. Ratface grumbled in a similar fashion and took up Hailspot’s flank. Ravenpaw trailed behind with a frown on her face and her tail making tracks in the loamy sand.

The group travelled silently along the shore of the lake, a chorus of the tide foaming against the shore echoing deep within their ears as they walked. Their pawsteps were washed away by the everpresent flow of water. Eventually, Starlingpaw grew tired and fell behind entirely, even stepping a few tail-lengths behind Ravenpaw. She could hear Starlingpaw’s laborious and dramatic breathing against the lake’s current, and she giggled everytime her sister let out a scratchy cough.

The treeline further inland had begun to change the further they walked. Where they had once been entirely surrounding by a forest consisting of deep green pine needles and firs, now tall, sprawling trees with new, green buds covering their skeletal branches mixed in with the familiar evergreens. The stench of a border marking grew stronger and Ravenpaw could see a meandering deciduous wood crawl along the gently sloping hills of Thunderclan territory.

Ratface grew closer to the strong scent and sniffed along the thick clumps of grass, much unlike the sparse mud and tree stumps of ShadowClan territory. He moved even further and his crooked whiskers twitched against the stems of clover and borage. He moved along the pistil of a stiff, purple, star-shaped flower and recoiled immediately upon scenting something. Revelation glittered in his rheumy eyes, once so dull and disinterested. “Thunderclan moved their border up; this patch of land used to belong to ShadowClan!”

Hailspot bristled beside her and Starlingpaw hissed angrily, pressing her ears back against her head. Ravenpaw turned to look at them, her features remaining foreign and far away.

“Those mouse-brained squirrel-chasers,” Hailspot cursed. “Did they really think we wouldn’t notice?”

Starlingpaw moved closer. She sniffed cautiously at the patch of borage and quickly recoiled. She joined Ravenpaw at her side and wrinkled her nose. Hailspot did the same, except she sniffed closer and opened her maw to taste the scents more accurately.

“Our marking is still fresh too,” Hailspot exclaimed. “They must have done this recently.”

“It was a mistake for Tatteredstar to give them so much leeway,” spat Ratface, his patchy brown fur bristling. “He gives them a fox-length and they walk the entire territory!”

Hailspot shook her head. Ravenpaw saw the disbelief and anger glitter fiercely in her eyes. “You’ll bring this up to him, won’t you?”

“Of course I will,” Ratface sneered back at her. “I couldn’t let this disgrace go.”

Starlingpaw tapped Ravenpaw insistently with her tail and motioned with her head towards the stiff line of oak trees, highlighted by the intense sunlight. Ravenpaw looked to where she motioned and saw a group of cats break away from the dappled shadows of the deciduous wood. A thin, prickly-furred brown tom, a pretty calico she-cat, a small, youthful fawn-and-white tom all padded towards them. Ravenpaw peered closer and managed to pick out the first rib from each of their flanks, and the brown tom’s amber eyes sunk deep into his skull so that she could see dark circles collect beneath the sclera. Despite the Thunderclanner’s bad shape, the prowled with power and bared their teeth. Ravenpaw could see aggression clear, it glittered deep in each of their searching eyes.

“I heard the word disgrace come from over here,” the brown tom growled, prancing dangerously close to Ratface. Ratface clearly outweighed the scraggly ThunderClanner, but that did not prevent the strange brown tom from puffing out his chest anyways. The calico positioned herself at his flank and the apprentice smiled proudly at his other side.

“I wonder why,” Ratface sneered sarcastically. “Considering our last marker went way beyond this patch of borage, which your Clan has decided to selfishly take for themselves. I’d like an explanation.”

“We don’t need to explain anything to you!” the apprentice cried shrilly, and Ravenpaw stepped forward. Starlingpaw bit her lip, although Ravenpaw felt her bristle hotly beside her. Ravenpaw assumed Starlingpaw must be trying to keep herself from saying anything that might escalate the situation.

“We need this patch of borage more than you do,” the sickly calico added on. She stepped a paw further into ShadowClan territory and Ratface stared at it.

“By that logic, you could take the entire lake territory for yourself because you ‘need’ it,” Hailspot cut in, and her hackles rose substantially. “Just because you may need the borage doesn’t mean you can change borders that have been here for moons.”

“I don’t care about your logic, fox-heart,” the brown tom hissed coldly to Hailspot, and Hailspot stepped forward in a fit of anger. “This is our patch of land now.”

“No, it isn’t,” Ratface told him gruffly. Ravenpaw shivered at the commanding tone lacing his voice. “Now, either you get off of Shadowclan territory or we make you go.”

“We’re not going anywhere!” the apprentice cried again, and Ravenpaw cringed at the sheer pitch of his voice.

“Yeah, this is ThunderClan’s land now,” the calico added on.

“We’ve warned you already,” Hailspot threatened, making a firm line of Shadowclan warriors beside Ratface. She curled her paws into the underbrush, still shaking sand from her paws. “We are not afraid to chase you from this place and remark the border even stronger next time.”

“Well, if you ShadowClanners want to act so tough,” the brown tom growled lowly, and she stepped even closer to Ratface so that their whiskers could brush together. “Then chase us off. Make us quiver in our fur.”

Ravenpaw shivered at the sudden tension that hung thick in the air and she pressed closer to Starlingpaw, swallowing thickly. She watched Ratface as he stared deeply into the eyes of the skinny ThunderClan warrior. Lightning seemed to crackle silently between their faces, and even the calico backed away from the two, sensing that this fight was not her own. Starlingpaw bounced from paw to paw beside her, and Ravenpaw sensed the anticipation and adrenaline pumping through her darker littermate. The taunt caught on the brown tom’s words did not go unnoticed.

In seemingly a heartbeat, Ratface lunged forwards and he crashed into the brown ThunderClanner, overpowering him and sending him into the patch of borage. The thin stalks flattened under their weight as they struggled among the deep green, and Ravenpaw tried to stifle a gasp. Ratface held the ThunderClanner down by his shoulders but the brown tom scrabbled frantically at Ratface’s side with his long, dark claws. They slipped through Ratface’s cinnamon fur, and Ravenpaw wrinkled her nose as the scent of blood began to fill the air.

_ I need to help him!  _ Ravenpaw realized suddenly, and she rushed forwards too. She placed her paws on Ratface’s side and pushed hard, hoping to knock him away from the Thunderclan warrior so that they could retreat in peace. She felt thick globs of sticky crimson blood pulse steadily beneath her paws, and she could feel her stomach stir uncomfortably as it squelched audibly beneath the pressure. Out of the corner of her eye, Hailspot tugged desperately at Ratface’s tail in hopes to unbalance him. Finally, his thickly muscled body shifted and he stumbled from the pin, allowing the brown tom to slip from his grip and return to the line of ThunderClan warriors. Ratface whipped around wildly and hissed at the two of them. Ravenpaw cowered away as she saw the pure rage flicker deep within his liquid gold eyes.

“We’ll be sure to mention this at the gathering!” the brown tom called from Thunderclan territory, huffing and panting. He was safe now, for Ratface could not come for him again without risking trespassing.

“Riverclan and Windclan will never trust you fox-hearts again!” the calico cried, and she ran back into the heavy woods. The rest of the ThunderClan patrol chased after her streaming tail, and soon the ShadowClanners were left alone on the border.

Ravenpaw looked to the crumpled patch of borage and clover, spotting clumps of brown fur caught among the green and splatters of deep red blood speckling the vibrant hue of nature. Ravenpaw looked to Ratface to see him panting and huffing. Ravenpaw warily took her place at Starlingpaw’s side, who still bounced from side to side as if she had just burned her paw pads.

“Why did you stop me?” Ratface questioned them heatedly. “I could have made sure those three never dared to trespass on ShadowClan territory ever again!”

“For a senior warrior, you are the most impulsive cat I’ve ever met,” Hailspot bit back at him, her fur still bristling. She stomped up to him, glowering fiercely. “If you hurt a hair on any of those Thunderclanners, they would have cried about us to every clan. We would have been announced a public enemy, for Starclan’s sake!”

“It would have been cool though!” Starlingpaw cried, unable to contain herself any longer. Hailspot sent her a withering stare and Starlingpaw immediately flattened herself guiltily.

Ratface straightened up now, his eyes icing over as he stared at Hailspot cooly. He seemed content to concede her this point, but Ravenpaw could see resentment glitter deep in her mentor’s eyes. “You don’t know that,” Ratface growled.

“Yes I do!” Hailspot cried in exasperation, lashing her tail wildly and sending a swift breeze to Ravenpaw’s face. “We need to talk to Tatteredstar and make him bring this up at the next gathering. Talking it out works infinitely better than tarnishing our reputation forever.”

“I sincerely doubt it,” Ratface muttered beneath his breath. “But fine. We’ll do it your way. Let’s get back to camp.”

Ravenpaw watched as Ratface disappeared into the mix of deciduous and coniferous trees, his flank still burning hot with spilled blood and dripping red trails all across the scattered foliage. Hailspot relaxed her muscles and smoothed down her fur, turning back to Ravenpaw and Starlingpaw. “Sorry you had to see that,” she meowed, smiling weakly. “He can be so stubborn sometimes.”

“It’s okay,” Ravenpaw responded. “It happens.”

Hailspot relaxed considerably at Ravenpaw’s allowance and Starlingpaw’s beaming smile. “Thanks,” she breathed. “Let’s get back to camp and see if we can force Ratface to see Songbird for those nasty cuts.”

Hailspot bounded away from them and stepped into the path that led back to camp. Ravenpaw followed soon after and she could feel Starlingpaw trot at her side. After only a moment of silence, Ravenpaw glanced to her side to see Starlingpaw giving the largest, most toothy grin Ravenpaw had ever seen. 

“Did you see the way Ratface pinned-”

“Yes, Starlingpaw, I saw. We were both there.”


	8. Chapter 5

The sun shone high in the sky now, and it’s incredible exuberance struggled to gleam through the thick canopies of the pine trees. Wherever the faint light dappled the sparse floor, small patches of undergrowth and grass sprouted from the ground where darkness once may have deterred their existence. Warblers called high upon the lofty branches above, and just below their songs, Crowpaw could hear dull chatter drifting from camp a few paces away. Songbird nosed along the base of a thick larch. Along it, a large bush with quaint white flowers and deeply hanging black berries rested.

Songbird pointed at it with her tail and looked back at Crowpaw. “What is this?”

Crowpaw shrugged dismissively. She kept her eyes trained on the ground, where her paws sank into the mulch, saturated with recent rain.

“You have to at least try,” Songbird implored. “Or you’ll never learn.”

Crowpaw averted her eyes, determined to look anywhere else but Songbird’s burning gaze. She shrugged again and quivered her whiskers, feeling remnants of last night’s rain drip onto her ear from the pines. “I can’t know unless you tell me.”

“Please Crowpaw,” Songbird pleaded. Songbird turned away from the bush and came closer to Crowpaw, where she leaned down to become level with Crowpaw’s eyes. “You used to be so curious about this kind of stuff. What happened to that?”

Crowpaw shook her head, frowning deeply. I thought it was cool, but now you’re just separating me from everyone I had ever cared about. I wanted to be a warrior.

“Crowpaw.” Songbird used her dappled tail to draw Crowpaw’s attention from the squishy mud and up to her eyes. “What’s wrong?”

Crowpaw hesitated, holding Songbird’s eyes. They drew her in, the color of the sky on a sunny day. Something stirred deep within her and Crowpaw opened her mouth to say something, but in a moment of fright, she ripped her gaze from Songbird’s and stared just beyond her white shoulder. “It’s nothing, I swear.”

Crowpaw heard an audible sigh from her mentor and Songbird turned away. Crowpaw watched as Songbird slumped her shoulders and dragged herself back to the bush with the engorged hanging berries, where she sat and looked up at. The white flower petals brushed against Songbird’s cheek.

“These are elderberry bushes,” Songbird explained, and Crowpaw heard thick exhaustion lace her tone. “If you give the flowers to elders to eat, it can ease the pain in their joints.”

Crowpaw joined Songbird at the thick greenery. There was a thick wall of tension shimmering between them. “But the flowers dry out very easily, so we can’t keep a stock in the Medicine Den.”

“It’s useful that they are so close to camp,” Crowpaw murmured complacently.

“Yes, but the flowers aren’t always in season. You can only find them in New-Leaf,” Songbird explained, and she nosed the white flowers. A sweet scent filled the air and Crowpaw leaned in too. She drew in a breath and the pleasant aroma rested against her tongue. The slightest of smiles spread across Crowpaw’s face and Songbird smiled in turn.

There was a crash of undergrowth deeper in the coniferous forest and Songbird turned her head abruptly. She leapt to her delicate white paws and padded across the clearing just beyond the camp entrance to intercept a heavily breathing Ratface. Burrs and bits of greenery clung to his dark brown fur and parts of his pelt were matter on his side. Crowpaw craned her head and narrowed her eyes. A pungent, noteworthy scent rested heavily upon her nose and and Crowpaw felt sickened by the acrid smell. He’s bleeding! She realised with a start.

“Ratface, what happened?” Songbird asked. Crowpaw watched as she placed herself in between Ratface and the thick thorns of ShadowClan camp, preventing his escape from explanation. Ratface peered around her for only a second, as if considering his options, before heaving a sigh and letting his shoulders relax.

“ThunderClan ambushed us at the border,” Ratface explained gruffly, his cheeks pulling at the age-old scar going deep into his face. “They said they needed the borage there more than we did. This thin tom leapt at me before we could even say anything.”

“Ratface,” Songbird repeated his name, and she glowered down at him. Although Songbird only went up to Ratface’s shoulder in height, she still radiated the air of a cat as large as a badger. “Are you sure that’s what happened? Be honest with me.”

Ratface wrinkled his nose and pressed his ears against his head. “Who are you to doubt me?” He growled, and he set his paws on the path to camp without allowing Songbird to respond. Songbird turned on her heel and stared helplessly after his retreating tail.

“Songbird,” Crowpaw meowed meekly from the crepuscular shade of the larch and elderberries. “He was bleeding. We can help him, right?”

Songbird sighed heavily, and Crowpaw could see he weights of world weigh starkly against her spirit. “Yes, as long as we can convince him to help himself,” she breathed. “Let’s get inside, Crowpaw.”

Crowpaw stepped into stride behind Songbird and they pressed through the thorny entrance of ShadowClan camp together. The sand and dirt covering the heart of the camp was illuminated by the unobstructed rays of the sun, which hung high in the sky. A quaint breeze fluttered through the clearing and ruffled the fur of her clanmates as they went about their daily duties. Oakpaw and Mousepaw pleaded with Redstreak to the right of the entrance, who continued to shake his head and mumble something about there being many other duties to attend to within the camp. Baypaw dug hard against the old, crumbling lichen crowding the entrance of the elder’s den further into camp, and they threw all the old foliage against a cold boulder to their right. Doveheart and Whisperpool spoke low with Nightshade, while Tatteredstar prowled restlessly nearby.

Crowpaw searched the camp desperately for Ratface before Songbird quickly directed her attention to a shaded corner, where thickets of brambles overhung and caved in on themselves. Just within the darkness, Crowpaw saw Ratface’s clouded yellow eyes leer from his place among the thorns.

“Crowpaw, go get some cobwebs ready,” Songbird ordered her blithely. “I will try to convince him to get some treatment.”

Crowpaw nodded and crossed the expanse of camp to appear at the mouth of the Medicine Den, where woven sage brush and brambles made a dark shelter. She turned her head to witness Songbird making her way towards Ratface, and a patrol of Hailspot, Starlingpaw, and Ravenpaw emerging from the clumps of thorns that made the interest. Hope glittered in Crowpaw’s eyes.

Thank StarClan they’re safe! Crowpaw thought feverishly. With her worries calmed, she dipped into the Medicine Den, where she was met with a chorus of coughs and sneezes and sniffles. Crowpaw peered through the gloom and darkness of the den to spot the faint outline of Smoketail’s slumbering body, still lying to the left of the entrance in a fresh bed of moss. Her chest heaved with the struggle of breath but consciousness still seemed just beyond her reach.

She’s still unresponsive…

“Is she still not moving?” Alvari’s voice came from the darker recesses of the Medicine Den, where he had been conferring with a shivering Mudflower. Crowpaw jumped at his sudden conversation, and she whipped around with her fur standing on end and her ears pressed flat against the back of her head. He chuckled lowly at her fright.

“Didn’t mean to scare you,” Alvari commented contemptuously, and Crowpaw relaxed and curled into herself with thinly veiled shame. “I couldn’t help but notice your clanmates—our clanmates—are coming down with something terrible.”

Crowpaw nodded with palpable hesitance. “Uh, yeah,” she confirmed quietly. “Songbird doesn’t think it’s greencough; she kept telling me it would be okay but I don’t think she really knows what it is either.”

Alvari came closer and he abandoned Mudflower. Mudflower called to Crowpaw after him, an ignorant smile on her drooping face. “Don’t act so frightened, Alvari is quite kind.”

“Oh, Songbird doesn’t know much beyond her little sphere of ignorance,” Alvari purred, and he curled his body about Crowpaw like a large snake preparing to constrict its prey. Crowpaw flinched and recoiled away from him, wrinkling her nose as their similarly coloured pelts brushed against each other. “But I have a feeling I know what this is, and I’m sure I could help.”

“He is quite educated, isn’t he?” Mudflower commented, and Crowpaw saw her eyes glitter in the darkness. “For a former loner, at least.”

“But Songbird can work through it, I’m sure,” Crowpaw protested, peering up past Alvari’s broad chest and into his mismatched eyes. “She’s smart and educated too.”

Alvari shook his head, and Crowpaw saw sharp teeth glint beneath the scattered light shining through the gaps in the bramble barrier. “There are some things only cats like me can know,” he responded, and he moved his paw to brush against the black fur on Smoketail’s flank. “And Songbird will have to understand that eventually and set aside her pride to let me help.”

Crowpaw opened her mouth to answer him, but the entrance rustled gently beside her and the sound of foliage being flattened beneath heavy paws filled the den as Songbird entered with Ratface. At their flank, Alvari left as soon as the exit was not blocked and Songbird stared at him with contempt glittering in her eyes. Songbird paused at Crowpaw’s side while Ratface padded further along and she looked down at her. Crowpaw craned her head to fully take in Songbird, and her soft, gentle voice was accompanied by the sounds of conversation as Ratface struck up hoarse conversation with Hazelpaw.

“Was he bothering you?” Songbird asked lowly.

“No,” Crowpaw began, her skin crawling with where her fur had brushed against his. “But he said he thought he knew what everyone is getting sick with. He said he thought he could help.”

Songbird’s face took on a grave expression, and her complexion darkened considerably. “Some cats just can’t be trusted, unfortunately,” she murmured, before moving onto a new tone entirely. “Did you prepare the cobwebs?”

“Oh!” Crowpaw chirped, and she felt a cold wave wash across her ears as she realised her mistake. “No, I’m sorry, I just got distracted.”

Songbird smiled tersely, but Crowpaw could see that she was on her wit’s end. “It’s okay, it happens. Hurry and prepare it then,” she meowed and pushed Crowpaw towards the dented stone face at the back of the den where most herbs laid. Crowpaw’s eyes trailed after Songbird as she submerged herself deeper into the darkness of the den and began to make quiet, quaint conversation with Ratface, Hazelpaw, and Mudflower, some which coughed violently every few heartbeats.

Crowpaw hurriedly put her back to the scene as Songbird glanced in her direction and struggled to make herself seem busy. Her dark paws darted every which way as she attempted to make sense of the cluttered storage area. Her claws flitted across dried borage and marigold in her search for cobwebs until she finally happened across the sticky white silk, clinging to the base of the large rock that made the southernmost corner of the Medicine Den. Crowpaw carefully peeled it away from the rock and held it gently between her teeth. She felt it dangle and occasionally catch against the fur on her throat as she trotted back to where Songbird soothed her patients with a few calm reassurances.

“What do you think is wrong with us?” Hazelpaw asked hoarsely. Crowpaw frowned at the weary, wavering voice of her once firm clanmate.

“Just a bad case of early greencough,” Songbird responded tersely, but Crowpaw’s eyes sparkled with doubt in the dim half-light. “Once we are able to procure a few patches of catmint, we’ll be able to return you to your duties.”

Crowpaw gently tapped Songbird’s hind paw with her own and the soft-furred calico turned to inspect Crowpaw’s requisition. Songbird nodded, smiled, and gently rasped her tongue against Crowpaw’s ears. “Thank you,” Songbird whispered, and she beckoned Ratface to a secluded corner of the den with a curl of her long, dappled tail. Ratface followed her obediently, but Crowpaw could see the frustration flicker firmly against his mangled features. As the mottled light caught against his coarse brown fur, Crowpaw saw the fresh claw marks, angry and red as they cut through his body. The blood, although sparse, had caught in his fur and now clumped there, beginning to tangle and dry where it gathered. The presence of blood gave Ratface a special, pungent scent beyond the stink of the marsh that soon began to dominate the entirety of the den. Crowpaw wrinkled her nose and pawed at it in hopes it might make the odor more tolerable.

The brambles to her side rustled again and Hailspot pressed past the gap in the barrier, her eyes wide and her white pelt carrying the thick stench of ThunderClan markers. She made sure to avoid Smoketail’s outstretched paw in her entrance, but Crowpaw blocked her path before she could delve further into the fray.

“Are Starlingpaw and Ravenpaw okay?” Crowpaw asked.

Hailspot gave Crowpaw a quizzical look. “Of course they are okay, no one got attacked on our side.”

Birdsong looked up from her menial work, her paws stilling in their pressing of cobwebs upon still bleeding lacerations. “Ratface seems to have a different story,” Songbird purred, almost maliciously. “I’m glad some cat in this clan has some semblance of truth left in them.”

Ratface flicked his shredded ear irritably but remained silent, even as Hailspot moved closer and regarded him with blatant disappointment.

“It could have been different,” Hailspot mused quietly. “Ratface could have not let his pride get to him, and we could have left that border with no injuries and fresh, new, untainted information for Tatteredstar. Yet, look where we are now.”

“I was protecting our honour,” Ratface spat back and pressed his ears flat against his head. Songbird ceased her efforts momentarily. “I was protecting the clan’s honour!”

Hailspot scoffed dismissively. “Don’t lie to yourself, Ratface.”

“You believe what you may believe and I will believe what I will believe,” Ratface finally said and he averted his eyes, dull and sunken deep into his skull. He quivered his crooked, broken whiskers and flexed his chipped paws against the soft sand covering the floor of the Medicine Den. Crowpaw watched him with fascination. Hailspot opened her mouth again.

“I’m surprised you convinced him to come here,” Hailspot commended Songbird. “How did you do it?”

“I threatened insubordination,” Songbird responded blithely and giggled shortly after. Crowpaw watched as she slowly placed a thick, viscous, green poultice upon the fresh injuries now decorating Ratface’s side. He winced only once before managing to endure the pain.

“Well,” Hailspot purred, shortening the gap between her and Songbird. “You know how he is. Stubborn as a badger.”

“Belligerent too,” Songbird joked, and even Ratface laughed, a breathy purr but an exhale of amusement nonetheless. The new, jovial air spread to Crowpaw’s face and a smile had soon overtaken her mouth, even despite being an outsider for much of the interaction. She could feel Smoketail’s pelt shift and press against her with every laborious breath she took, and Crowpaw has begun to rely upon the push and pull of her lungs as some sort of checkpoint.

“Hey, I just got attacked by a squirrel-chaser,” Ratface defended himself. “Give me a break.”

Crowpaw heard their lighthearted conversation continue, but soon her mind drifted someplace else and she found her face waning from the situation she had been promised a role in. Her ears dropped steadily and hung at the sides of her dark face as she leaned over the soundly sleeping body of her clanmate so that she might peer into the sunny clearing of camp. Redstreak laid prone upon the sun-kissed face of a smooth boulder and basked in the incredible light, whereas Baypaw finally crossed from one end of camp to the other with a bundle of old lichen and moss clutched deep within her mouth. Crowpaw’s keen eyes searched the sparse grotto desperately now.

Where are they?

Crowpaw’s attention attached to the small figures of two cats settled to the side of the fresh-kill pile. They looked so similar; fur as black as a starless night, eyes as bright as a pyre in the dark, soul as iridescent as the sun in green-leaf, and yet Crowpaw could only see their differences. Ravenpaw held herself with such high standards and regard and her conversation was always littered with large words and intelligent semantics. Starlingpaw was charismatic and outgoing, and she went about camp as if she owned all of her clanmates simply because she hailed from a long line of leaders and deputies alike. Crowpaw could see their futures so bright, yet when she tried to see her own, the only thing visible was suffocating darkness.

When they reach their full potential, where does that leave me? Crowpaw wondered silently, and she tossed this single question about and about within her mind as if it were a stone on the banks of RiverClan.

Suddenly, Crowpaw looked just pasts her siblings, who took turn biting into the supple flesh of a stark white rabbit. Deep within the gaps of the thick bramble barrier separating the wild from the heartland, Crowpaw saw the glint of two separately coloured eyes as the light struggled to reach them. A shock passed unwillingly through Crowpaw’s body and her paws shivered against the thick tussocks of crabgrass underpaw.

With a blink of complacency, Crowpaw turned back to peer at Songbird, Hailspot, and Ratface as they went about treatment.


End file.
